A rock instrumental by Billy Joel, intended to be played before and after his song Angry Young Man. What makes "Prelude" so fascinating is the blazingly fast repetition of the middle C on the piano. It's hard to believe that a single person is playing this hammering staccato on a single piano when you first hear it.
When I went about to learn to play "Prelude" myself, my father nearly laughed out loud. He was completely sure the Staccato From Hell was either some MIDI trick or the result of skillful dubbing.
Actually, it isn't all that hard. You just hit the middle C in rapid succession, using your right thumb and your left third finger in turn. The tierces interspersed between all those Cs are played with the right third and fifth finger. Now all you need is a piano with a good action that will repeat as fast as you strike that key. Allegedly, Billy Joel had an additional spring built into his middle C key so it would repeat faster. However, I can assure you it works on most pianos, though it gets tricky on digital pianos, whose actions are traditionally a bit on the mushier side.
The rest of "Prelude" is fairly easy to play, by the way. The problem is all in that C hammering -- and in the fact that a non-boring rendition of the rather repetitive, ostinating number requires a complete rock outfit, including harmonica, Hammond organ and synthesizer.